It?s party planning time for your senior, and you?re stressed. There?s more than a million details — or so it seems — and it?s hard to know where to start. Luckily, there?s still a couple months to go before graduation and opening up your backyard to friends and family. So what should you keep in mind? Here are a few tips for keeping your planning right on track.
1. Get Party Tent Rentals Early
You know your party is going to take place at least partially outside, because your patio offers a lot more space than your living room (and it?s a lot less effort to get clean). You won?t know the weather forecast until the week before, though, so you might as well order a tent now, while it?s easy to make a reservation, and not wait until the last minute when only expensive tents that are too small or too large are left. As a bonus, tents can also help to keep the sun off your guests if it doesn?t end up raining.
2. If You?re Not Hiring a Caterer, Have a Ton of Food Options
You may not want to shell out a few hundred dollars for a caterer, and that?s fine. You can have a great party without one! Since you?re saving that money, though, make sure to have more than enough food to go around — and numerous options. You?ll likely have at least a few vegetarians, low-carb, and no-gluten guests in the mix — and barring that, not everyone likes pigs-in-a-blanket anyway. So have numerous options, running from the standard party fare (chips and dip) to the slightly more fancy (Asian spring rolls).
3. Make Sure You Have Adequate Seating
You?re going to have people of all ages at this gathering, and people wanting to sit and eat constantly, so make sure that you have enough seating for all of them. If, like most people, you don?t happen to have 50 spare folding chairs, then book some chair rentals ahead of time. You can also get chair cover rentals in order to ensure that your guests aren?t constantly fidgeting on hard, uncomfortable plastic all day. When it comes to table renting, table rentals are also a possibility!
4. Get Some Music Going
Hire a band or have a great mix on your iPod — if there?s one thing that?s for certain, it?s that people like having music in the background of a party. It helps people relax, fills in the ?silence? when people aren?t talking, and can even give them something to talk about other than your clever chair cover rentals.
Have you prepared for your party yet? Do you have music, adequate seating and chair cover rentals, a caterer or a tent? Let us know in the comments.
